GREEN BAY, WI – In an independent study with industry leader, Tourism Economics, Discover Green Bay reports a record-breaking year for tourism in 2022. The study shows that 6 million people visited Brown County last year leading to a total direct spend of $765 million dollars - a 20 percent increase from 2021. The total economic impact of these visitors to the county was $1.3 billion dollars. This breaks the previous 2019 record by nearly $100 million and an increase of nearly 16 percent over 2021.
"When hard work and perseverance are combined with a community of people proud of their destination, great things happen," said Brad Toll, President and CEO of Discover Green Bay. "The team at Discover Green Bay, along with our friends and community partners have made the Greater Green Bay Area a destination on the rise. We look forward to continuing this work towards breaking more records with exciting plans for the future."
Each year Tourism Economics is commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism to complete an economic impact study on statewide tourism. Discover Green Bay further engages Tourism Economics to provide a more detailed report on tourism specifically in Brown County.
Key findings of this localized study include:
- Total visitor spending increased by $132 million over 2021 and by $46 million over 2019's record.
- Nearly 25 percent of all visitor spending was in the food and beverage category, followed closely by accommodations at 21 percent and retail at 20 percent.
- Visitors spent the most in q3 (July-August) of 2022 – $228.4 million.
- Employment directly supported by visitor activity continued to rebound in 2022, directly supporting 7,567 jobs, an increase of 460 jobs.
- Visitors generated $96 million in local and state tax revenue.
State-wide tourism also broke records in 2022. The Wisconsin Department of Tourism released 2022 economic impact data, showing the tourism industry generated a record-breaking $23.7 billion in total economic impact. The highest-ever overnight visitation helped fuel the growth.
In 2022, there were 111.1 million visits in Wisconsin, which was up 8.8 million visits, or 8.7%, over the previous year. This includes a record 45.4 million overnight visits, or a 13.8% increase from 2021. Overnight visitors, on average, spent nearly three times as much as day trip visitors.